Tech Systems

All Electronic Tolling (AET) - The industry’s name for a tolling system without human toll collectors. These systems can still have gates and lines.

Open Road Tolling (ORT) - A system where there are no gates that stop traffic. Tolls are collected electronically.

Pay-By-Plate, AKA Tolls By Mail - A system that bills drivers without using tolling booths or transponders. It does this by taking pictures of drivers' license plates at a tolling point, then matching them to addresses based on DMV records.

Violation Enforcement System (VES) - The process by which scofflaws can be penalized for missing toll bill payments. This can take the form of fees, fines and vehicle registration holds. Some states even use jail time to punish violators.

Economic systems

5. Congestion pricing - A system where toll prices are set to limit the amount of vehicles on a given road. Invented by late Westchester resident and Nobel prize winning economist, William Vickery.

6. Mileage-based user fees - An alternative plan for funding the highways in the United States. Proponents of the system suggest — instead of using state and federal gasoline tax — charging drivers based on the amount of miles they drive. How such a system would track mileage is currently being worked out. One possible solution is to expand the usage of cashless tolling to all highways.

7. Variable pricing - The ability to change the price of a toll based on demand factors like time of day or amount of people currently using the road. For example, a toll at 3 a.m. on a Wednesday could be pennies, but a 9 a.m. Wednesday trip could cost far more.

8. Express lanes - Lanes on a toll road which drivers can pay more to use. A combination of congestion and variable pricing can create these “fast lanes” by limiting the traffic on it by adjusting cost based on the amount of driver demand.

Physical systems

The electronic toll gantry for the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge on the eastbound New York State Thruway in South Nyack Dec. 13, 2017.(Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

10. Back Office Operations - The industry name for the process of creating invoices, matching drivers to proper mailing addresses and revenue collection for an agency. This can be handled by the government or put out to a contractor, like Conduent. From there other operations, such as mailing, can be subcontracted to other groups.